This disclosure relates to a microgrid and, in particular, to the manner in which intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) within a microgrid communicate with one another.
Microgrids are known to include one or more IEDs associated with a building, for example. Some example IEDs include battery management systems, generators, regenerative elevator systems, energy management systems, and grid switches. Microgrids are connected to an external power grid by way of a “smart” switch in some examples.
Known microgrids include a communication architecture having a central control system. The IEDs in the microgrid communicate with the control system. The control system includes a plurality of communication protocols and data models. Further, the individual IEDs have to be modified to include communication protocols corresponding to those of the control system to enable the respective IED to communicate with the control system. This approach is somewhat cumbersome in that it requires modifying a variety of IEDs and because directing all communications through the control system introduces delay.